cgaydos
Well-known member
2k1Toaster said:Well I took the Leaf up from COS to the Denver Airport, and it was fun. Re-affirmed my dislike for Volt owners too.
We drove to Arapahoe Nissan, did a quick L3 (from 32% to 85%) headed to the airport and got there with 30-somthing percent. Go the EV areas and every single spot was blocked by a Volt. None of them were even charging. Then there were 2 hybrid spots, 1 next to the charger, the other 2 spots down and a Volt just pulled in. I politely asked if he would mind moving 2 spots down to the other hybrid spot so I could use the L1 charger from the hybrid spot. Guy flat out said no. Couldn't be bothered to move his car over. So I just parked in a normal spot and got on my plane. Got back about 26 hours later and 2 volts had left, now occupied by a BMW (i3?) and a Tesla. And there were 4 other Teslas parked in that row but not at the spots.
Drove to Canopy, they charged me for free up to 58% when I asked them to stop since that was more than enough. Drove to Arapahoe Nissan again for another L3. There was a white Leaf parked at the L3 and it had stopped charging at 90%. I unplugged it, plugged it into the L2 that was there (it started charging up) and I left a note. Plugged me into the L3. Drove slowly on the way back. I am still not comfortable guessing the battery usage from DEN to COS on I-25. I am fairly certain I could not make it all at 75mph. Add to that the GF was cold, so we had the heat blasting the whole time. I just found a semi and drove behind it.
Thanks for the report. So for DIA I've charged twice, both times arriving either late Sunday night or extremely early Monday. One time one of the garages had all EV spots full so I went to the other and they had one slot left. That whole set-up really highlights the problems with charging spots. You know everyone there is going to be gone for at least a day - probably many days, yet once a spot is taken no one else can use the charger during that time. And yes, Volts and Energis are particularly annoying with there small batteries taking up spots that pure EVs could use - but it would be worse if PiPs were available in Colorado as you know they would hog the spots for their 1 hour charge. It would be better if they had a string of 110V outlets along a couple rows and had people use their own EVSEs to plug in - less cost to the garage and more people could use the spots.
A caution on your trip back - you cannot count on Arapahoe Nissan, or any L3 spot. That L3 stations has been working for many weeks now but it was down for many months and during the spring was up-and-down. On one trip back I found that it had just gone out of order - I ended up charging at a Walgreens in Highlands Ranch while I tried to sleep in the back seat (unfortunately necessary because the trip from the airport in 0F temperatures had taken up most of the battery).
When relying on a charging station to get home I try to plan a route with several stations along the way just in case some are down. I make sure to have a 100% charge leaving DIA. I'll take 225 and, if they are open, try to get a top-up at the Tynan's L3 in Aurora. From there I can get home with a 100% charge if I hypermile and the temps are warm. Arapahoe is the second choice for an L3 top-up - if at 100% from there it's easy to get home, but like all Nissan dealerships the L2 is a slow 208V charger. Further south you're stuck with L2. My primary stopping point is Castle Rock. The Walgreens is conveniently located next to Panera and lots of shopping so I'll stop there and gladly pay the fee unless all the shops are closed. The backup plan is the hospital across the freeway, where they have 4 spots of which 2 are usually working. Going south from that point for emergencies there is an RV campground at the Tomah exit where you can beg to use campground charging (an upgraded EVSE for 240V is helpful here) and the Walgreens in Monument.